Changes: Jeopardy!/Sets

Revision as of 16:17, 19 June 2022

Jeopardy! set evolution (daily syndication)

Welcome to the Jeopardy! Sets page.

This talks about the many sets used over the years. The set has changed like the theme song.

3/30/1964-1/3/1975 (Jeopardy!)

Originally designed by Tom Trimble with later alterations by Merrill Sindler, the set featured contestant desks on the left and a game board on the right. The game board was covered by a blue cloth-type curtain, which revealed the categories and dollar values at the start of each round. A smaller board was used to reveal the category and clue during the Final Jeopardy! segments were revealed using a pull-card. A jumbled Jeopardy! logo was featured on the contestant backdrop. Contestant scores were in slides similar to Password. The contestant podiums, unlike the show today, had seats in which contestants could sit. For the weekly syndicated version, the set used flashing lights and a larger Jeopardy! logo behind the players; the rest of the set remained the same.

10/2/1978-3/2/1979 (The All-New Jeopardy!)

When the series was revived in 1978, a new set designed by Henry C. Lickel was introduced. Contestants walked through sliding doors just behind their desks during their introductions. The game board was on the left this time with the desks on the right. Contestants still sat down. The curtain on the game board was replaced by sliding panels; pull-cards were still used. Contestants’ scores were in eggcrate display. During this set's run, there was no Final Jeopardy! Instead, a Super Jeopardy! Bonus Round replaced Final Jeopardy!

1983 (Unaired Pilot 1)

The set for the first unaired pilot of the Alex Trebek-hosted series retained many of the elements from the Art Fleming era. The contestant desks, backdrop, and game board resembled PCs from the technology era of the 1980s. Despite that, the game board still employed the older-style pull cards, which belied the more modern look of the rest of the game.

1984 (Unaired Pilot 2)

The set was completely overhauled for the second and final unaired pilot, also by Henry C. Lickel, looking more like the current series' first season (1984-1985) set. The game board was modernized, consisting of 30 television monitors, and the categories were backlit on cards above the monitors. The contestant podiums now had monitors in the center displaying their names; plus, there were separate name cards above the monitors. Also, the contestants' scores were now in a vane display which would become standard until the end of season 7 in 1991. A redesigned Jeopardy! logo was crafted out of red neon tubes; the lights on the logo flashed across one letter at a time (in this pilot, there would be one light going across; the rest were darkened). For Final Jeopardy! contestants wrote their responses on an electronic tablet using a light pen; this method has been used since by the show. Also during Final Jeopardy!, the buzz-in lights on the podiums all lit up while the contestants were writing; this did not carry over when the series premiered. They can also use an index card and a marker to manually write their response should a problem arise with the tablet or pen.

Alex revealing the Final Jeopardy! clue.

9/10/1984-6/7/1985 (Season 1)

The set for the first season of Jeopardy! in syndication was the same as the one used for the second pilot but with minor facelifts. Starting with this season and lasting until the end of Season 7, the category headings would be in red text and would individually light up as Alex introduced each category and would turn off when all 5 clues in that category had been used up. At first, the category headings each had a red neon light and did not turn off when a category was finished nor turned on when the categories were announced; in fact, they stayed on throughout the show. At first, the Jeopardy! logo lights didn't flash until the third week of that first season, only this time it is one light off while the rest are lit, and the light chase went fast. In between, the logo lights flashed two at a time. Until 1996, people in the audience can be heard talking before the show starts.

9/9/1985-7/19/1991 (Seasons 2-7)

In 1985, the set was tweaked by art director Bob Rang into the form it would retain until 1991. The 9-foot Jeopardy! logo was now in white neon with acrylic glass covering the letters and the light chase would slow down a bit; the acrylic glass would be gold-colored from 1986 until 1991. An entrance arch was built for the contestant entrances in the open. Starting from this season onward, the values of the answers will be seen close-up before the clue is seen, although the $100 value is rarely shown close-up. For the first week only of the second season, the champion would stand at the third podium on the right, while the first challenger stood at the first podium on the left. Additionally, 9 light bulbs were placed atop the contestant podiums to indicate how much time they had to respond to a clue. For each second that goes by, 2 lights turn off (one on each end), meaning a player has 5 seconds to respond; when the last light turned off, that meant the player ran out of time. To accommodate the rule change that players must wait until the clue was completely read before ringing in, a white light surrounds the game board, which is turned on as soon as the clue has been completely read; this light is almost never seen on the air. In Season 6, Alex Trebek began wearing glasses, so he can read the clues to the contestants. The category headings' neon lights changed from red to light blue, and like the first season, would light up as each category was announced. Starting in Season 4, the category headings would become backlit in blue, from this season until the end of Season 7 (although the headings would change shape in Season 6), each would turn off when a category is finished. The set background changed from blue to red for Double Jeopardy! and Final Jeopardy! Beginning early in season 7, the lights started to go dark during Final Jeopardy!. At the end of each episode, the monitors flashed the Jeopardy! logo, as well as the Final Jeopardy! logo, and it alternates between a blue screen, and a red screen, a shot of the host, and the day's winners.

Super Jeopardy! (1990)

For the Super Jeopardy! tournament in the summer of 1990, the set used four podiums in the quarterfinal games; there would be the usual three for the semifinals and finals. This was also the first time the lights started to go dark during Final Jeopardy!, which became permanent from Season 7 onward. Also, the category headings were in blue text instead of red as on the regular show. Not only that, we see the neon light border around each category go out when the last clue in that category was chosen. The surface of the set was hard instead of carpet. Additionally, the game board borders and scoreboard borders had a marble-like texture; the scoreboard outline was rounded off, which would carry over to the regular series' 7th season (albeit without the marbled texture). In this special series, contestants play for points instead of money. The same closing animations from the regular show are used here.

9/2/1991-11/8/1996 (Seasons 8-13) "Grid Set"

At the start of Season 8 in the fall of 1991, Jeopardy! introduced a brand new set, which is designed by art director Ed Flesh. The set consisted of a metal grid taking place on a blue set background, as the revised neutral white nine-foot Jeopardy! logo changed its color to a rotation of neutral white and red. During the Double Jeopardy! round and Final Jeopardy! round segments, the set background changed its color from blue to red as the revised nine-foot Jeopardy! logo is still neutral white and changed its color to a rotation of neutral white and blue. For the first half of the entire season, the nine-foot Jeopardy! logo changed its color to a rotation of neutral white, blue, and red.

The contestant podiums had a brand new look, same with Alex Trebek's podium, and it has a shiny grid look. It was used during the introductions, in and out of commercial breaks, and during the closing credits. The entrance arch was eliminated, and from then until 2000, contestants simply walked onto the set during the introductions. The contestant scores atop the podiums were in incandescent seven-segment display so they could be seen when the lights dimmed during the Final Jeopardy! segments. The Final Jeopardy! logo appeared on the contestant podium monitors after the category was revealed before the 2-minute break to allow contestants to write down their wagers. At the end of each episode, the monitors display the Jeopardy! logo, which no longer flashes, and no longer alternates between a blue screen, and a red screen. So they used the closing animations between the two camera shots: a shot of the host, and the day's winners, just like the one you see on the game board.

Also, the game board changed several television monitors from 30 to 36, so the contestants can see the clues easier, and the categories began to display in the top row of the board, with various types of animation to reveal the categories at the start of each round. For its first season using the set, the category monitors were blank and the category names popped in, but would later zoom in as each category was announced, by Season 9, it was changed to show the names of the categories broken up into pieces top and bottom and the pieces would go together as each category was announced. When a category was completed, it would disappear from the monitor and remain blank for the rest of the round; this has been done on all sets since then. The game board monitors also made crazy designs that started as its logo on the whole board, then was broken into individual logos in each monitor, therefore covering up the dollar values to be revealed as Alex gets the show underway.

It was usually shown as zigzags, spirals, merges, and multiple spirals. This usually occurred on camera after Johnny introduced Alex. This continued until Season 26 (2009-2010), based on people watching future episodes. In 2010, the monitors changed their technology. The set was best known for its metal-grid backdrop, making true to its nickname the "grid set." Also, from Season 9 until the end of this set's run, the backgrounds for the contestant monitors changed to red for the Double Jeopardy! segment to match the background, rather than staying blue throughout the entire show. Also, the contestant interviews would be moved from after the first commercial break to after completion of the first round, but starting in the middle of Season 13 and continuing to the present, the contestant interviews were moved back to after the first commercial break. Also, from Season 9 until the end of this set's run, for the Final Jeopardy! segments, spotlights were lit behind the contestants as they wrote down their responses. Midway through Season 9 and continuing today, the camera would cut from the clue to the set seen from the logo's point of view, and would slowly pan over to the contestants as they started to write down their responses.

11/11/1996-11/8/2002 (Seasons 13-19) "Sushi Bar Set"

On November 11, 1996, two months after the start of Season 13, Jeopardy! introduced an entirely new set, designed by production designer Naomi Slodki. The set featured a more wood-like appearance and was nicknamed the "Sushi Bar" set by fans. One notable new feature of the set in which the show's logo no longer changed its color to a rotation of neutral white and red/blue; it was emblazoned on sliding doors, which consist of the "P" and "A," through which Alex Trebek enters the Jeopardy! set by walking down a small staircase.

The contestant podiums had a brand new look, as well as the host's podium. The game board consisted of a wood paneling backdrop, and the stage floor consisted of a gray marble circle with a golden border on top, to match the set's backdrop. On some episodes during Celebrity weeks, celebrities make their entrances by entering the emblazoned sliding doors and walking to their contestants' podiums during their introductions. The backdrop of the set, consisted of dark gray granite columns and huge wood panels with small etched glass windows. Two big monitors on the left and right of the set had been added so that the audience can see the action. On the first episode with this set, the contestant monitors turned red in the Double Jeopardy! segment for the last time. Gone are the closing animations in favor of different angles of the set, as well as shots of the host and the day's winners.

In the first season of this set's run, the category monitors would be blank, and the categories would come in from both top and bottom, coming together. Beginning in Season 14 and onward into the current set of the show, the categories were covered by the Jeopardy! and Double Jeopardy! logos, as well as a logo of a particular tournament. From 1997 to 2000, the category effect screen rotated up. From 2000 onward, the category effect screen faded in. Also starting in Season 14, the microphones were removed from the contestant podiums, and the contestants started wearing clip-on microphones, which have been used on all other sets since then. And at long last, the studio audience can now be seen during Alex's entrance, going in and out of commercial breaks, and during the closing credits.

Starting with the October 3, 1997 episode, the set no longer changed its color to red in Double Jeopardy! and Final Jeopardy!; instead it stayed blue throughout the whole show. Before that date with this set, the background color would switch back to blue at the show's close. However, on the January 23, 1998 Celebrity Jeopardy! sportscasters episode, the set changed its color from blue to red in the Double Jeopardy! and Final Jeopardy! segments for the last time, and on the February 14, 1997, Teen Tournament Finals episode, the set was a rather unusual pink shade at the show's close. When the sushi bar set debuted on November 11, 1996, the glass had a darker shade of pink with the grid in purple. On the 1997-2000 episodes, the glass consisted of a lighter shade of pink with the grid in blue, but the set became more of a purple color. On the 2000-2002 episodes, the pink on the sliding doors changed their color to a very pale lavender.

In early 1998, the practice of popping in the dollar figures on the Double Jeopardy! board ended; they were already present in the monitors coming out of the second commercial break. This was first seen during the Tournament of Champions in February and became permanent in March. Beginning with the first episode aired in the third week of March 2000, the audience no longer applauded coming out of the 2nd commercial break. Starting in Season 17 and continuing to today, the contestants no longer entered the studio at the beginning of the show, they are already standing at their podiums. Previously in the last few seasons, blind contestants who made their appearances were now standing next to their podiums during their introductions, this happened only 5 times before Season 17, which is not counting the 1997 International Tournament, all occurring in Season 16 when the first-ever blind Jeopardy! contestant Eddie Timanus appeared and won five consecutive games. On September 19, 1997, the contestants were standing at their podiums to celebrate the 3,000th episode of the show and the players were introduced after Alex Trebek came through the sliding doors. For no apparent reason on the October 7, 1997 episode, all three contestants appeared standing next to their podiums for the very first time.

11/25/2002-7/24/2009 (Seasons 19-25) "Metallic Set"

On November 25, 2002, two months after the start of Season 19, Jeopardy! introduced another new set, also designed by art director Naomi Slodki. It featured hanging panels with stone fixtures and metallic finishes as well as translucent light blue, and the huge Jeopardy! logo was removed from the set and placed on the panel between the champion's podium and Alex's podium. During tournaments, the tournament's name was placed throughout these hanging panels. The set also featured trapezoid-shaped podiums, and the score displays were changed from incandescent seven-segment display to blue and red video displays with dynamic scoring. It meant that positive scores were displayed in blue while negative scores were shown in red. During the first week with this set, the background changed from blue to red when the lights dimmed during Final Jeopardy!, a somewhat revived practice from the 80s and 90s when the Double Jeopardy! round was in play. But from the second week until the end of Season 21, the set stayed blue throughout the entire show. However, starting in Season 22 and continuing to today, the set turning red when the lights dim during Final Jeopardy! became permanent. Also, when the set debuted, there were no outer lights on the podium; those debuted starting in Season 20.

In the fall of 2006, Jeopardy! and its sister show Wheel of Fortune became the first game shows to broadcast in high definition when they premiered their 23rd and 24th seasons respectively. As part of the transition to HD, the set received minor face-lifts. The game board now consists of a nearly seamless projection wall (a seamless projection wall was part of the show's traveling sets from 1997 until 2008 – a similar or perhaps the same one was used for Rock & Roll Jeopardy!). The contestant podiums were revised, and are now spaced wider apart so that a camera shot could be trained on a single contestant within a 16:9 ratio frame without showing the other contestants on the sides of the screen. Alex's podium received a similar treatment. Also, the contestant podiums originally had red ring-in lights, but from the third week of Season 23 until the end of this set's run, they were changed back to white due to visibility issues.

During Season 25 only, the dollar figures didn't pop in on the Jeopardy! round board; they were already present following the introductions. The host's podium and contestant podiums from this set are now in the Jeopardy! Hall of fame, which opened in mid-September 2011. Since the Season 25 premiere and continuing today, contestants who were eliminated at the end of Double Jeopardy! due to zero or negative scores return to the studio for the post-game chats, if they choose (one instance of this was 2014 Kids Week when Gabby Fusco did not return after still being in tears over her elimination from Final Jeopardy!).

9/14/2009-8/2/2013 (Seasons 26-29) "CES Set"

In 2009, Jeopardy! rolled out a brand new state-of-the-art set, designed again by Naomi Slodki. This set was first used on the Celebrity Jeopardy! and Tournament of Champions episodes aired March 10-24, 2009, all while the show was being taped at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas (making true to its name the CES set), and was then put permanently into use from the start of Season 26 onward. It is now designed specifically for HD and features Sony's latest technology. The game board is now a wall of 36 42-inch Sony HD flat-panel LCD monitors (the game board on the traveling set now uses smaller LCD monitors); it is also three feet wider than the previous game boards since it uses 16:9 monitors. The contestant podiums are also comprised of flat-panel monitors but on their sides.

A large monitor is placed between the contestant podiums and Alex's podium and displays the Jeopardy! logo throughout most of the game. The monitor between Alex and the contestants also reveals the Final Jeopardy! category just before the third commercial break a somewhat revived practice from the Art Fleming era and because of that, Alex remained at his podium before this he stood in front of the game board, though both the category and clue continue to be revealed on the game board and Alex continued to stand in front of it during the first two seasons of this set's run. Behind Alex's podium are sliding doors, in which Alex would make his entrance similar to when the Sushi Bar set was in use. Another notable feature of the set is the contestant backdrop, which is comprised of multi-colored triangles and "spider web" like designs consisting of black and white lines. The contestant podium scores are always shown on a blue background this time, while positive scores continue to be shown in white text, negative scores are shown in red text on a blue background.

Also on the Season 26 premiere, the practice of popping in the dollar figures on the Jeopardy! round board returned but with a different sound effect and a different visual effect: with each note, one of each dollar amount ($200, $400, $600, $800, and $1,000) pops in randomly (6 dings for each amount). Since the Season 26 premiere and continuing into the present day, the contestant monitors now revert to the Final Jeopardy! logo at the end of the show. On the episode aired March 15, 2010, consolation prizes $2000 for 2nd place and $1000 for third place began appearing on the contestant podium score displays after the game, appearing as blue text on a white background. Shown under the consolation scores are the logos for the prizes' sponsor, Aleve.

Starting in Season 28, Alex made his entrance from behind the game board instead of through the sliding doors rendering them stationary, and remained at his podium throughout the whole game due to Achilles Tendon injury he suffered when he chased a robber in San Francisco, however, on the episode aired December 12, 2011, Alex returned to conducting the contestant interviews near the contestant podiums, and he continues to stand in front of the board when revealing the Final Jeopardy! clue and category on roadshows. During the second week of this season, the sponsor for the consolation prizes began appearing superimposed on the contestant podiums after the game.

Two podiums from this set were used on The Queen Latifah Show (2013-15 version) for their Rap Jeopardy! skit with Will Smith.

Design Outlines

9/19/2011-8/2/2013 (Seasons 28-29)

9/16/2013-present (Seasons 30-present) "30th Anniversary Set"

In 2013, the Jeopardy! set underwent a significant remodeling for the show's 30th Anniversary Season and features elements from the first three Naomi Slodki designed sets. The sliding doors behind Alex's podium were removed and replaced by what appears to be a ramp or some sort of curved pillar; the "ramp" or "pillar" behind the board has blue LED strips and thus reminds viewers of the pre-2006 metallic set. While the blue curtain from the CES set is retained, the backdrop is modified. Now there is a column-and-beam design with three LED strips and a white LED pattern on the beam and rectangular LED posts on the columns; the column-and-beam backdrop resembles the set used at Radio City Music Hall, the sushi bar set, and the current generic backdrop used on Wheel of Fortune. While retaining the 42-inch LCD monitors, the game board is changed to match the backdrop, also consisting of the LED strips and sushi bar like pattern on top and rectangular LED posts on the sides. Alex's podium was redone similarly and, for the first time since the Fleming era, has the Jeopardy! logo. The multi-colored triangles and "spider-web" framework were replaced with curved lines and an extremely long curved shape that changes color, mainly ocean blue and purple. Additionally, the "piano key" LEDs were removed from the floor, and the contestant side was raised to create a single level floor. The contestant podiums resemble the ones used 2006-2009 while retaining the sideways monitors. The background separating the podiums is blank for regular shows and is decorated for special shows such as tournaments. And the large monitor between Alex and the contestants is also retained from the CES set but this time mounted on a "walrus tusk" post.

From December 21, 2015 to January 1, 2016, Alex remained at his podium throughout the entire game for the first time since Season 28 due to his full knee replacement surgery. He no longer walked onto the set during the introductions but is already at his podium. Also, he uses a cane for post-game chats with the contestants during the closing credits. Beginning with the second to last week of Season 32, the sponsor for the consolation prizes no longer appeared under the contestant score displays.

During Season 33, a new sound effect for the dollar figures popping in on the Jeopardy! round board was added to replace the previous sound effect, albeit the loading pattern introduced in Season 26 remains.

Since the 2nd week of October 2017, the dividers between the players used for Final Jeopardy! are now retractable. Also beginning with the episode aired October 9, 2017, players are now staying at their podiums for post-game chats during the closing credits, as it was previously used for visually impaired host or contestants.

During Season 37, the set was modified to accommodate social distancing due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and also underwent a few cosmetic changes in the process. The contestant podiums are now spaced six feet apart from one another. The host's podium was also redesigned. Additionally, a couple cosmetic changes from The Greatest of All Time special carried over, most notably the golden arches and the removal of the "pillar" from the right side of the game board. The host now stands next to the monitor for interviews, which has also been modified to have the same design as the rectangular LED posts.

Additional changes were made for Season 38; the host's lectern was redesigned again, and the contestant backdrop now utilizes vertical spotlights. Above the horizontal beams, a star backdrop much like the one from The Greatest of All Time special is now used.

2020-2021 (Season 37)

2021-present (Season 38)

Jeopardy! The Greatest of All-Time (2020)

For the Jeopardy! Greatest of All-Time tournament in January 2020, the set underwent a few cosmetic modifications. The backdrop is a starry navy-blue background, similar to that used on Wheel of Fortune. Alex's podium, the contestant podiums, and the curved post mounting the large monitor have a gradient that resembles the stone panels from the 2002-2009 set. The bottom of the "ramp" on the right side of the game board is removed. And there are two thick golden arches on the stage floor, starting in front of the game board and ending in front of the contestant lecterns. The long curved shape is blue throughout most of the show but is orange during the introductions and when the lights dim for Final Jeopardy! Additionally, the background for clues is a darker blue than on the regular shows, and the dollar amounts (actually points) for clues are in various shades of gold.

Jeopardy! National College Championship (2022)

Brackets

Print & Results

Screenshots

The Set

Game Show Hosts

Traveling Sets

There have also been various sets used for when the show goes on the road for specific tournaments and events. These sets are fabricated in Southern California before being shipped to their respective road venues for taping. The 1997 International Tournament and 2009 Tournament of Champions, however, didn't use traveling sets, the former took place on the set of the Swedish version, and the other became the primary set at Sony Pictures Studios.

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